


a slight detour

by grilledcheezer



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Varian and the Seven Kingdoms
Genre: Forever crying, Hugo is killing me, Mild Angst, Short One Shot, Yong's just a pyro hehe, i adore these characters, i blame kait & anna, my life is now consumed by this spin-off, some funny stuffs, why disney why
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:00:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23472097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grilledcheezer/pseuds/grilledcheezer
Summary: Just what, exactly, is Hugo's goal?
Relationships: Varian & Hugo, Varian/falling, Yong/fire
Comments: 18
Kudos: 83





	a slight detour

**Author's Note:**

> I CAVED, OKAY?
> 
> My obsession with this amazing concept & these characters whom I've only known for about a week has utterly consumed me..  
> So here I am, contributing to the Varian spinoff content with the only thing I have to offer:  
> A RANDOM ONE-SHOT.
> 
> i had such a hard time with this at first. Kept wanting to up the angst x10000 since i never write anything this light, & i tried so hard to stay in character but IT'S HARD WHEN THERE'S NOTHING TO WORK WITH. damn you, disney. xD
> 
> ~ANYWAYS, ENJOY Y'ALL (says i, while i continue to bawl into my pillow over Kait & Anna's fabulous story)
> 
> SIDE NOTE: this concept, which if y'all haven't read about yet, can be found all over Kait's tumblr: https://kritterart.tumblr.com

“Look, just because we got lost does _not_ mean that it was my fault.”

Hugo glanced down at his younger companion, jade-green eyes full of skepticism. “Really? Because you’re the one holding the map.”

“Well, the map is _clearly_ wrong!” Varian shot back. “We were supposed to pass through a large village around three hours ago! We are _not_ supposed to be wandering around in a forest filled with _mosquitoes_.” He gestured to their surroundings, his gloved hand practically swatting at the air in frustration.

Hugo stared at him for a few seconds, his face stoic. “Goggles, weren’t _you_ the one who drew up the map in the first place?”

“I—yes—Look, that’s besides the point!” Varian spluttered heatedly. “And besides, I wouldn’t have even had to make a new one — created _entirely based on memory, I might add_ — if you hadn’t decided to just _lose_ our original map!”

“Hey! I didn’t _lose_ it,” Hugo argued, raising his arms defensively.

“What do you mean, _you didn’t lose it?_ ”

Hugo shrugged, his right hand pointing vaguely at the dark-haired child walking behind them. “I gave it to Yong for his experiment.”

“You did _WHAT?!_ ” Varian practically shrieked, unable to suppress his horrified expression.

“He said he needed something flammable, to like, test something?”

“Hugo. Are you telling me you gave Yong our _only reliable map_ so that he could set it on fire?”

The blonde scratched the back of his head, eyebrows knitting together as he pondered the question. “I mean, at the time, I didn’t know he wanted to set it on fi—”

“DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT _FLAMMABLE_ MEANS?”

“I thought he just wanted to test its general properties! How was I supposed to know he’d use it for his instant firecrackers?” Hugo defended.

“ _Because the kid’s a pyro_ —okay you know what, forget it! It’s fine! It’s all just _fine!_ ” Varian placed a hand to his temple, closing his eyes as he attempted to convince himself well, _that this was all just fine_. “It’s no problem, _we’ve got this,_ ” he muttered repeatedly.

Behind the older boys, Nuru and Yong glanced at one another. They’d been with Varian long enough by now to know that his iconic phrase was a bad omen of sorts. Whenever he attempted to reassure himself that _they’ve got this_ , the group tended to, well, **_not_** _“got this”_.

Almost as if on cue, Varian let out a yelp. The solid ground he’d been walking on had ended abruptly, and a gaping hole now stared back at him. Despite his usual lack of coordination, he’d somehow managed to dig his heels into the ground, skidding to a halt at the last possible minute.

Unfortunately, Hugo — who had ended up trailing behind Varian by a few steps after their heated exchange — had no time to stop himself as he slammed chest-first into the surprised alchemist. Arms flailing, the pair tumbled down into the dark abyss.

Although their fall was a tad bit dramatic, the drop itself had been no more than a few metres.

“Oww…” Varian groaned. He lifted his dirt-smeared face and attempted to stand up, only to find that his body was pushed back down by an immovable force. He sighed, letting his face fall back down onto the ground as he gave up the fight he knew he’d already lost. “Hugo, can you _please_ get off of me?”

“Hmm, let me think about that one for a sec… _Nope._ ”

“ _I swear to—_ ”

“Guys!” Nuru's voice called out from the top of what could now be recognized as a hill. “Are you alright?”

“We’re fine!” Hugo responded cheerfully, his tone now mocking Varian’s earlier words. “ _We’ve got this._ ”

“Ha.” Varian scoffed sarcastically. “You’re absolutely _hilar_ —GAH!” He cried out in surprise as Hugo rolled onto his back now, his body sprawled out onto the younger boy’s. He threw his arms out onto Varian’s back, shifting his head to a more comfortable position.

“You know what, Goggles? You might not be much good as a scientist, and you absolutely _suck_ at reading maps, but you make a pretty decent pillow, I’ll give you that.”

“Come on, Hugo, let him up,” Nuru chided. She and Yong — followed by Varian’s very worried raccoon — had made their way down the hill by now, finally catching up to the other half of their group.

“ _Fine._ ” Hugo got up, allowing Varian to follow suit before he was nearly jumped by Yong.

“ _Varian!_ Are you okay?!”

Varian winced, the loud words from his friend nearly piercing his eardrums. “I’m fine, Yong, don’t worry. Now, which way did we come from? Maybe we can find another way to get to that village.”

“We’ve been heading east this whole time, but maybe we can try taking another route through the trees down here?” Nuru suggested, gesturing to the clearing amongst the imposing army of green.

“I think we should stop for today,” Hugo chimed in, surprising the rest of them with his unexpected words. “The sun’s setting now, so it’s going to get dark soon.”

“But…if it gets dark, we can just use Nuru’s star chart to figure out where we’re going,” Yong pointed out. “And Varian’s alchem—”

“No, I meant we should rest,” Hugo interrupted briskly. “I don’t know about you guys, but personally I’m _exhausted_ after today. I’d really rather we just find a place to camp out and retrace our steps in the morning.”

“That’s…actually not a terrible idea,” Nuru admitted. Yong nodded, signalling his accordance with the plan as well.

“All right, then,” Varian agreed reluctantly. He wasn’t sure why Hugo was so insistent upon waiting another day, considering how adamant he’d always been on _rushing_ towards the final totem, but he decided not to question it. It was Hugo, after all. “Guess we’re spending the night.”

***

Hugo sat on a rock, observing from a distance as Nuru, Varian, Yong, and even Ruddiger crowded around the newly-built campfire. They were all laughing as Yong had begun to explain another one of his explosive mishaps, their hearty chuckles echoing in the clearing they’d set up camp in.

Ruddiger chirped happily from his spot on Varian’s lap, crunching an apple he’d managed to scavenge from the nearby woods. Hugo had been invited to join the group as well, but he’d declined, stating that he was heading to bed early.

In reality, he just wasn’t sure if he could face them for any longer today without having some of his previously-fortified resolve start to crumble. He feared that if he joined in, their words oozing of warmth and quirkiness would tempt him to forget his mission entirely. Hugo shook his head.

He wasn’t sent here to make _friends._

No, he was here to spy on the group. He was to watch them, and lead them into a trap to ensure they wouldn’t be able to secure the final totem. Hugo wasn’t supposed to get invested at all.

Yet somehow, he found that he couldn’t detach himself as he looked over each one of his teammates.

Yong, the excitable boy with good intentions who somehow managed to cause chaos wherever they went. Nuru, the bullheaded princess who seemed to be the most stubborn and determined out of all of them. And then there was Varian; the clumsy alchemist who was often both the dumbest _and_ the wisest of the group.

Hugo sighed. He closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose where his glasses had left a soft imprint.

They all had their own goals, too. Personal growth, the betterment of an entire kingdom, following in someone else’s footsteps…

Hugo contemplated his own objective for a minute. What _was_ his goal? Was it simply to stop the group from achieving theirs?

He thought of Donella, who had practically raised him. She’d given him food, clothes, a warm bed…she’d taught him, trained him, and even indulged in his scientific passions. Donella had given him a home, when he had nothing.

_His goal was to make her proud._

Hugo had to show her that he was grateful for all that she’d done for him, that everything she’d given him had _not_ gone to waste. That he was worthy of her respect and affection.

So, as he gazed back at the group nodding off by the campfire, Hugo decided with a newfound resolve that he wouldn't continue his shenanigans to delay the group’s journey even further. Feigning innocence in the charred map incident and secretly changing Varian’s new version had been a pathetic attempt to slow them down, one which he wouldn’t try again.

It was stupid of him to think that a few extra days out in the woods would provide him with an opportunity to come clean about his affiliation with Donella. It was even _stupider_ of him to believe that that would be a good idea. _I’ll tell them today,_ Hugo had told himself for weeks now.

But who was to say the group wouldn’t reject him completely, their anger at his deception shattering their camaraderie? _No, the_ ** _illusion_** _of camaraderie,_ Hugo reminded himself.

They weren’t friends; not at all.

 _This_ was just another mission for him, and these people were just collateral damage.

Hugo slid off of the rock, laying against its hard surface as he tried to position himself comfortably. He closed his eyes, waiting for the sweet silence of sleep to overtake his senses.

 _I’ll tell them tomor—_ his mind started, the thought nearly escaping him as Hugo reworded his intentions subconsciously.

_I will make her proud._

**Author's Note:**

> our boy Hugo :'(((( *sobs*  
> i don't know why i do this to myself xD (i had to slip at least a lil angst in there, sorry guys UwU)  
> now excuse me while i go dig myself deeper into this glorious hole 
> 
> SECOND SIDE NOTE:  
> there's been a petition goin' round amongst some of us fans, so if anyone's interested in supporting Kait & Anna's concept, here's the link below! the petition is really just for us fans to show our love for the project to Disney, so that they just might consider bringing it to life someday down the line! <3  
> Link: https://www.change.org/p/walt-disney-varian-from-the-show-tangled-the-series-s-spin-off-with-the-concept-of-kate-and-anna


End file.
